The present invention provides a new use of known pharmaceutical compounds. In particular, the present invention provides for the treatment of hypertension with certain insulin sensitizing agents such as thiazolidinedione derivatives. These compounds are previously known for the treatment of diabetes.
The fact that there was a relationship between circulating insulin and hypertension has been frequently discussed in the literature. Thus, for example, Pereda, et al, Am. J. Physiol. 202 (2): 249-252 (1962) noted an increase in blood pressure in dogs due to the administration of insulin. DeFronzo, Diabetologia 21:165-171 (1981) attributed this increase in hypertension to the effect of insulin on renal sodium retention which expanded the vascular volume, while Rowe, et al, Diabetes 30:219-225 (March 1981) attributed it to the increased activity of the sympathetic nervous system. Other studies have suggested that hyperinsulinemia as the result of insulin resistance is associated with hypertension. This is attributed to the fact that obesity is known to be associated with insulin resistance and it is a commonly held view that hyperinsulinemia in obesity is a major factor responsible for hypertension. See, e.g., Modan, et al, J. Clin. Invest. 75:809-817 (March 1985). Patients with essential hypertension have been reported to have insulin resistance. Ferrannini, et al, N. Eng. J. Med. 317:350-7 (1987). In the last study a measure of insulin resistance was reported to directly correlate with arterial blood pressure. In patients with a functional endocrine pancreas, insulin resistance also correlates directly with circulating insulin levels.
Ciglitazone is characteristic of a new class of thiazolidine antidiabetic agents which lower blood glucose in animal models of noninsulin diabetes mellitus (NIDDM), while actually reducing circulating concentrations of insulin. This is believed to be accomplished by improving the responsiveness of the peripheral tissues to insulin. See, e.g., Chang, et al, Diabetes 32:830-838 (September 1983).
Because of the high association between diabetes, obesity, and hypertension, and the increase in risk of heart attack in patients exhibiting both diabetes and hypertension (see, e.g., Tzagournis, Am. J. Med., 86 (suppl 1B):50-54 (1989)), what is needed in the art is an agent which will treat both diabetes and hypertension.